Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he will continue to pressure Hamas by making additional cuts to the budget allocated to the Gaza Strip, within the coming months, if the movement failed to transfer control of the enclave to the Palestinian Authority, sources revealed.
The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the president demands Hamas hand over the Gaza Strip or take full responsibility of the territory including its expenditures.
“Either we take responsibility for the West Bank and Gaza under one state, one regime, one law, and one weapon, or [Hamas] will take responsibility,” Abbas said during a meeting with the Palestinian Central Council end of the week.
Reconciliation with Hamas “does not mean a truce, ceasefire, or humanitarian assistance, Reconciliation means that unity should be reinstated,” he added.
"The truce is a national demand and we want to protect our people in the Gaza Strip against the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation. We are for total calm in the context of a comprehensive national plan," Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) Executive Committee Saeb Erekat said in an interview.
He added that "if Hamas decides to conclude a unilateral truce agreement with Israel, it will be contributing to the destruction of the Palestinian national project."
Fatah spokesman Osama al-Qawasme warned against Hamas concluding a truce deal with Israel in exchange for humanitarian assistance.
He considered the agreement to be “another coup against the people and homeland.”
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman accused Abbas of trying to drag Israel into a confrontation with Hamas so it can retake control of Gaza.
“Abu Mazen knows that he is not capable of overthrowing the Hamas regime by force; he understands that Hamas will not transfer control over the Gaza Strip and therefore is trying to drag us into a confrontation with Hamas in the Gaza Strip,” Lieberman added.
Hamas didn’t comment on the accusations launched by Abbas, the PLO, and Fatah, only describing them as negative standpoints.
